% 


j:2-2,>oz. 


Srom  t^e  £i6rari3  of 

Q^equeat^e^  6l?  ^im  to 
f ^e  fetfirar^  of 

(Princeton  C^eofogtcaf  ^eminarg 


HINTS  TO  A  LAYMAN. 


HINTS 


A    LAYMAN. 


'It  is  a  allocking  sight, 
When  children  of  one  family 
Fall  out,  and  chide,  and  fight.'' 

Nursery  Ballads. 


■'How  much  more  shocking  when  the  children  are  grown  men  and 
women — and  the  family  is  the  Church." 

Hartley  Coleridge. 


P  H I LA  D  E  L  P  H I A : 

C.   G.    HENDERSON   k   CO. 
1853. 


HINTS    TO    A   LAYMAN. 


LETTER  I. 

messrs.  c.  g.  henderson  and  co. 

Gentlemen  : 

In  this  day  of  the  multitudinous  issue  of 
the  press,  it  is  a  pleasing  sign  to  those  who 
think  that  man's  spiritual  and  moral  nature 
is  his  highest  glory,  to  find  an  increasing 
attention  among  American  authors,  to  ques- 
tions connected  with  the  development  and 
welfare  of  that  nature.  The  genius  of  our 
people  is  so  entirely  practical,  that  there  is 
but  little  encouragement  for  writers  to 
engage  in  the  illustration  of  great  princi- 
ples in  almost  any  department  of  thought. 
Eminent  foreigners  have  remarked  this  in- 


14 

tense  direction  of  our  life  to  what  is  visible 
and  tangible,  to  what  has  visible  and  pal- 
pable and  measurable  results;  and  while 
they  have  admitted  that  the  general  mind 
of  the  country  is  far  more  alive  to  questions 
that  range  above  mere  material  interests, 
than  is  the  case  among  the  nations  of 
Europe,  they  have  been  justified  neverthe- 
less, in  stating,  that,  as  regards  works  of 
profound  reflection,  there  are  fewer  to  ap- 
predate  them  than  among  any  other  civil- 
ized nation.  That  this  should  be  so,  is  per- 
fectly natural  in  the  history  of  a  new  peo- 
ple, but  it  is  perhaps  time  that  our  atten- 
tion should  be  turned  to  the  fact,  and  some- 
thing done  to  increase  a  taste  for  such 
study.  We  have  been  led  to  these  remarks 
by  the  recent  perusal  of  a  work  which  ap- 
peared from  the  pen  of  one  of  our  own  citi- 
zens, on  a  theme  which,  though  pre-eminently 
practical  in  its  object,  has  been  discussed  by 
him,  with  an  elevation  of  thought  which 
betokens  a  better  spirit  than  that  which  has 


15 


been  common  among  us,  in  the  examination 
of  questions  bearing  on  the  greatest  of  hu- 
man interests,  and  involving  others  of  the 
utmost  depth  and  comprehension.  We  hail 
this  book,  not  because  we  agree  with  all  its 
conclusions,  but  because  it  seems  to  us  to 
mark  a  new  era  in  our  country  in  the  treat- 
ment of  great  questions  that  go  down  to 
the  depths  of  human  nature  and  society. 
There  have  never  been  wanting  men  of 
great  speculative  ability  among  us,  at  any  pe- 
riod ;  a  few,  but  very  few,  might  be  named, 
who  in  this  respect  would  compare  with  the 
thinkers  of  any  age  or  nation ;  but  as  a  ge- 
neral thing,  the  remark  of  M.  de  Tocque- 
ville  is  undeniable,  and  indeed,  with  a  large 
class  even  of  intelligent  men,  it  is  by  no 
means  felt  to  be  a  reproach  to  us,  that  "  in 
no  country  is  so  little  attention  paid  to 
philosophy."  By  philosophy,  in  this  con- 
nexion, we  do  not  mean  any  system  of 
metaphysical  science  (though  it  be  true  in 
that  sense  too),  nor  any  mere  speculation  on 


16 

the  mysteries  of  our  being,  transcendental 
or  other, — but  we  mean  the  spirit  that  leads 
men  of  reflection  to  probe  all  questions  to 
the  bottom,  to  examine  them  on  all  sides, 
to  view  them  from  some  point  where  an 
impartial  estimate  can  be  formed  of  them, 
to  rest  not  in  conclusions  of  authority,  but 
"  to  scrutinize  all  things,"  in  order  to  intelli- 
gent conviction,  to  the  full  limit  of  the 
power  of  man.  The  free  spirit  of  our  peo- 
ple does  indeed  well  fit  them  for  such  inves- 
tigations; but  their  thoughts  have  as  yet 
been  little  turned  into  such  channels ;  and 
though  we  have  freed  ourselves  from  all 
arbitrary  authority  in  the  government  of 
the  state,  and  claim  to  have  the  convictions 
of  an  unshackled  conscience,  it  may  be  that 
in  the  midst  of  this  invaluable  freedom  we 
are  still  in  thraldom  to  some  more  subtle 
tyrant  than  any  king  or  hierarch,  in  our 
undue  devotion  to  some  inferior  interest, 
our  unworthy  fear  of  cliques,  or  of  some 
self-styled  public  opinion,  or,  in  a  word,  to 


17 


some  enslaving  prejudice,  which,  however 
venerable,  from  antiquity,  or  association,  or 
universality,  can  be  shown,  in  the  end,  to 
have  no  other  basis  than  human  ignorance 
or  folly.  With  this  view  of  our  national 
characteristics  in  matters  of  thought,  we  are 
disposed,  as  we  have  said,  to  regard  the 
work  entitled,  "New  Themes  for  the  Pro- 
testant Clergy,"  with  much  favour,  from  the 
truly  independent  tone  in  which  the  matter 
is  treated.  This  element,  or  the  philosophi- 
cal spirit,  the  author  certainly  has.  Some 
may  think  he  pushes  it  too  far;  but 
whether  this  be  so  or  not,  we  think  no  one 
can  deny  it  the  merit  of  being  that  genuine 
independence  of  thought  which  becomes  the 
impartial  seeker  for  truth;  which  is  as 
remote  as  possible  from  that  spurious  con- 
ceit, mistaken  for  it  by  many,  which  makes 
a  man  abjure  the  wisdom  of  the  past,  and 
madly  dream  that  everything,  in  every 
science,  must  be  settled  de  novo.  Nor  is  it 
alone  in  this  spirit  that  we  discern  a  better 

2* 


18 

sort  of  thinking  than  is  ordinarily  brought 
to  bear  on  topics  of  the  kind  discussed  by 
our  author.  Confessedly  defective  as  the 
book  is  in  arrangement,  the  writer  exhibits 
both  power  and  elevation  of  thought,  far 
beyond  what  is  usually  seen  when  a  man 
attempts  to  treat  a  subject  of  this  kind  in  a 
popular  way.  Great  as  are  the  advantages 
of  method,  it  is  but  the  framework  of 
thought,  and  as  it  has  not  been  used  in  this 
case,  we  think  it  a  stronger  proof  of  the 
author's  real  intellectual  merit,  that,  coming 
before  us  without  the  adventitious  aid  of  a 
logically  ordered  concentration  of  reasoning, 
he  should  still  have  impressed  so  many 
competent  judges  with  the  force  and  value 
of  his  main  positions.  But  though  not  sys- 
tematically arranged,  we  have  many  proofs 
that  this  has  not  sprung  from  an  illogical 
habit  of  mind,  as  the  Reviewer  styled  A 
Layman  so  sagely  supposes.  Only  a  mere 
verbal  logician  could  object  as  he  does  on 
page    55,    that    "statements   and    counter- 


19 


statements,  affirmatives  and  negatives,  on 
the  same  questions,"  necessarily  prove  a 
loose  and  inconsistent  reasoner.  However 
this  may  be  in  the  naked  forms  of  logic  (and 
it  is  not  always  true  even  there),  those  who 
know  that  logic  only  embraces  a  part  of  our 
intellectual  processes,  are  aware  that  in  all 
the  higher  regions  of  thought,  nay,  in  all  where 
the  proof  is  not  demonstrative,  there  are 
innumerable  seeming  contradictions,  which 
are  only  seeming,  and  that  principles,  in  all 
the  range  of  moral  science,  appear  to  a  nar- 
row vision  to  be  opposed,  which  a  more 
comprehensive  survey  shows  to  be  con- 
sistent. Logical  precision,  when  it  can  be 
rightly  used,  is  certainly  an  invaluable  ele- 
ment of  power  for  any  writer,  but  the 
Reviewer  was  never  more  mistaken,  if  he 
supposes  that  all  minds,  deservedly  deemed 
logical,  have  always  exhibited  this  trait, 
even  when  treating  on  subjects  that  above 
all  others  demand  it.  The  great  Locke  is 
not  unfrequently  a  striking  instance  of  this. 


20 


as  several  critics  have  remarked.  Though 
a  giant  in  logical  power,  his  desire  to  rescue 
Philosophy  from  the  technicalities  with 
which  the  schoolmen  had  oppressed  her,  led 
him,  at  times,  when  writing  in  that  plain 
way  of  which  he  speaks,  to  forget  the  very 
danger  of  ambiguous  and  undefined  terms, 
against  which  he  so  convincingly  inveighs 
as  the  source  of  endless  prejudices  and  mis- 
understandings. Yet  who  shall  dare  to  say, 
because  of  this,  that  he  was  a  loose,  ram- 
bling writer  ?  Gold  is  no  less  gold  because  it 
has  a  measure  of  alloy.  There  are,  we 
grant,  many  apparently  conflicting  positions 
taken  by  the  author  of  New  Themes, 
which,  did  we  not  know  his  design,  we 
would  say,  were  irreconcilable;  but  know- 
ing that,  they  assume  a  different  aspect,  and 
without  any  forcing,  may  easily  be  shown  to 
be  compatible.  The  very  strong  view  he 
takes  of  a  particular  truth,  which  is  com- 
mon to  all  who  have  a  great  truth  to 
impart,  does   indeed  at   times  savour  of  a 


21 


degree  of  one-sidedness,  which  is  alien  from 
the  true  philosophical  character;  but  the 
more  we  reflect  on  the  purpose  he  has  in 
view,  and  the  more  we  consider  the  breadth 
of  mental  grasp  which  he  so  generally 
exhibits,  the  less  disposed  are  we  to  regard 
him  as  defective  in  that  characteristic  of  a 
wise  and  far-seeing  mind.  But  though  it 
should  even  be  admitted  that  some  defect  of 
this  kind  attached  to  his  writing,  the  great 
value  and  undoubted  truth  of  the  principles 
he  insists  on,  considered  in  their  positive 
character,  would  make  it  a  matter  of  com- 
paratively small  account.  We  regard  the 
author  as  sounding  the  hey-note  of  a  useful 
reform  in  the  prevailing  type  of  our  Chris- 
tianity, and  hence  he  appears  before  the 
world,  rather  as  a  reformer  than  as  a  philo- 
sophical writer.  We  doubt  not  that  his 
modesty  would  disclaim  either  title ;  but  the 
world  may  judge  differently;  and  while  to 
us  he  seems  to  show  the  power  of  each, 
it  is  in  the  former,  rather  than  the  latter. 


22 

that  he  appears  as  a  writer.  From  the 
nature  of  the  case,  then,  we  cannot  expect 
the  same  impartial  weighing  of  every  mat- 
ter in  him  who  would  arouse  a  sleeping 
world  and  a  sleeping  church  to  some  juster 
conception  of  their  vast  responsibilities. 
Such  has  ever  been  the  case  with  reformers. 
Witness  the  exaggerations  of  Luther,  on  the 
subject  of  good  works ;  which  were,  however, 
ably  vindicated  by  Calvin.  Says  that  great 
man, — "You  will  say  that  Luther's  mode  of 
expression  sounds  hyperbolical.  I  allow 
this,  but  contend  that  he  had  good  reason 
for  it ;  he  saw  the  w^orld  in  mortal  slumber, 
through  false  confidence  in  the  holiness  of 
works,  and  despaired  of  awakening  it  by 
words  : — the  trumpet  only  could  arouse  it ; 
thunder  and  lightning  seemed  necessary  to 
him."* 

In  fact,  in  reading  some  of  the  more 
pointed  denunciations  of  the  evils  that  pre- 
vail in  our  churches,  which  have  so  need- 

*  Henry's  Life  of  Calvin,  vol.  i.  p.  493. 


lessly  excited  the  fears  of  "  A  Layman,"  lest 
the  Church  should  suffer  from  a  false  friend, 
we  have  been  reminded  of  the  manner  in 
which  Joseph  made  himself  strange  to  his 
brethren,  that  they  might  be  the  more 
deeply  sensible  of  their  fault.  We  doubt 
not  that  this  was  the  intention  of  the 
author  of  New  Themes;  and  the  response 
which  he  has  met  from  many  quarters, 
where  a  different  result  might  have  been 
feared,  shows  that  he  judged  wisely,  and 
ttiat  there  was  ground  for  his  rebukes,  and 
will,  we  hope,  be  an  evidence  to  him,  that 
however  far  the  Church  has  wandered,  she 
still  has  sons  who  can  bear  reproof  with 
meekness,  and  seek  a  better  knowledge  of 
their  Master's  law.  Having  now  stated  our 
impression  that  this  book,  considered  as  a 
contribution  to  Christian  ethics,  indicates  a 
growing  appreciation  in  our  community  of 
the  value  of  moral  discussions,  and  having 
expressed  our  estimate  of  the  power  and 
skill   the    author    brino;s   to    his   task,    we 


24 

would  set  forth  what  we  understand  to  be 
the  great  principle  he  endeavours  to  enforce 
throughout  his  pages,  which  has  been  most 
sadly  misconceived.  Not  only  is  this  the 
case  with  A  Layman,  on  whose  vision  it  does 
not  seem  even  to  have  dawned,  but  with 
many  others,  and  especially  some  clerical 
reviewers.  The  pique  of  the  latter,  at  some 
rather  hard  rubs  from  the  author  of  New 
Themes,  can  hardly  excuse  the  small  mea- 
sure of  justice  dealt  to  him,  when  one 
remembers  that  their  familiarity  with  the 
subject  discussed  should  have  led  them  to 
admit  the  force  and  seasonableness  of  the 
main  doctrine  advanced,  and  to  have  made 
many  allowances  for  what  would  seem  to 
them  a  depreciation  of  other  principles  not 
less  momentous.  The  much-neglected  prin- 
ciple, then,  which  our  author  wishes  to 
implant  with  living  power  again  in  the  con- 
sciousness and  the  conscience  of  the  Church, 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  simple,  all- 
pervading,  all-working  principle  of  Christian 


25 


love ;  that  gentle,  but  most  mighty  power, 
which,  springing  from  the  bosom  of  God, 
once  blessed  the  universe  in  creation,  blessed 
it  again  in  redemption,  and  still  seeks,  in  all 
the  carrying  out  of  the  wondrous  plan,  to 
bless  the  souls  and  bodies,  the  temporal  and 
eternal  being,  of  the  myriads  of  Adam's 
race.  Alas  !  thou  heaven-descended  Charity ! 
blind  and  hard  are  men,  when  one  must 
plead  for  thee !  We  conclude  this  letter, 
by  declaring  our  belief,  that,  whatever  be 
the  faults,  either  in  matter  or  manner,  of 
our  author,  this  his  main  position  is  wholly 
impregnable.  In  our  next,  we  will  state  it 
more  definitely,  and  our  reasons  for  believ- 
ing it.  Respectfully  yours. 


26 


LETTER  11. 

We  stated  in  the  close  of  our  last  letter 
what  we  deemed  the  main  object  of  the  au- 
thor of  New  Themes.  As  the  point  is  one 
of  great  importance,  and  as  he  has  been 
much  misunderstood,  we  will  endeavour  to 
present  it  in  a  light  which  will  make  it  diffi- 
cult to  mistake  it,  and  also  show  some  of  the 
consequences  involved  in  his  main  principle. 
Assuming,  as  admitted  by  all  who  acknow- 
ledge the  authority  of  Christ,  that  the  pre- 
cept '^  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thy- 
self" is  the  second  great  command,  and  is 
like  to  the  first,  and  while  second  to  it  in 
order,  is  second  to  it  alone  in  importance,  he 
contends  that,  too  often  under  the  cover  of 
zeal  for  the  first,  and  in  many  other  ways, 
the  Christian  Church  has  practically  lost 
sight  of  the  inherent,  far-reaching  obligation 
of  the   law   of  love.      The  author's  main 


27 


theme  then  resolves  itself  into  two : — 1st. 
That  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  in  all  the 
forms  demanded  by  our  varied  relations  to 
him,  is  a  cardinal  duty  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem. 2d.  That  Christians,  as  such,  have 
most  deplorably  failed  in  yielding  an  obedi- 
ence to  this  command  at  all  commensurate 
with  the  pure,  and  spiritual,  and  elevated 
character  of  its  requirements.  In  regard  to 
the  duty  itself,  if  it  be  needful  to  urge  its 
paramount  claims  on  any  in  civilized  and 
Christian  communities,  this  itself  shows  some- 
thing essentially  wrong  in  the  state  of  one 
thus  in  the  dark.  Yet  we  are  by  no  means 
sure  that  there  are  none  who  would  not  be 
for  giving  this  virtue  and  this  grace  a  subor- 
dinate place  in  their  religious  system.  Thus, 
when  love  of  men  as  brethren  is  urged,  has 
it  not  been  often  replied,  that  brethren  in 
Christ  is  meant  in  the  injunction?  And 
when,  again,  even  that  limited  benevolence 
was  brought  home  as  implying  a  warm  re- 
gard for  the  welfare  of  all  that  are  truly 


28 


Christ's,  of  every  name,  who,  alas !  has  not 
known  instances  where  the  duty  was  practi- 
cally denied,  because  the  party  to  whom  it 
was  due  gathered  not  with  them,  and  was 
looked  on  with  coldness  and  suspicion,  be- 
cause, though  working  and  living  to  the  glory 
of  Christ,  he  followed  not  the  same  standard- 
bearer,  and  uttered  not  the  same  Shibboleth  ? 
So,  again,  if  one  should  urge  the  general  ob- 
ligations of  benevolence,  and  remind  Chris- 
tians of  their  duties  to  all  as  fellow-beings, 
sprung  from  a  common  source,  created  by  a 
common  Father,  and  bought  with  the  same 
precious  blood,  how  often,  though  these  be 
admitted,  do  we  find  no  practical  recognition 
of  this  spirit  as  one  of  the  highest  fruits  that 
faith  in  the  Gospel  can  produce  ?  Let  none 
say,  then,  that  there  is  no  need  to  show  that 
love  to  our  neighbour  is  an  imperative  duty : 
facts  that  stare  us  in  the  face  prove  that  it  is 
needful.  What  Christian,  for  example,  has 
acquitted  his  conscience  of  his  duty  to  street 
beggars?     Of  ten  who  may  pass  one,  and 


29 


who  are  favourably  situated  for  his  reHef, 
are  there  five  who  would  give  any  aid  that 
might  reasonably  be  expected  from  those 
who  are  commanded  to  "give  to  him  that 
asketh  of  thee  ?"  One  will  plead  his  haste ; 
another,  on  principle,  never  gives  to  street 
beggars ;  a  third  thinks  them  all  impostors ; 
a  fourth  says  there  are  societies  established 
to  relieve  them,  and  passes  by;  a  llfth  re- 
minds you  that  there  are  limitations  to  hu- 
man responsibility,  and  that  if  he  gave  to 
every  applicant,  he  would  soon  have  nothing 
to  give.  Thus,  if  one-half  are  so  easily  sup- 
plied with  excuses,  which  are  too  common  to 
be  fictitious,  we  may  well  doubt  if,  of  the  re- 
mainder, there  would  be  a  majority  to  act 
the  part  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  Take 
another  case  :  we  are  far  from  thinking  that 
the  external  divisions  of  the  body  of  Christ 
must  necessarily  impair  its  true  unity;  but 
who  that  is  not  blinded  by  party  spirit  can 
pretend  to  justify  the  miserable  alienations 
between  sects  that  even  admit  the  safety  of 

3* 


30 


those  in  either  communion  ?  Nay,  not  to 
limit  the  matter  thus — where  do  we  see,  even 
in  the  case  of  those  separated  from  us  by 
fundamental  error,  anything  that  would  bear 
to  be  compared  with  that  divine,  all-conquer- 
ing love,  which  the  Author  of  truth  exhibited 
towards  the  blaspheming  deniers  of  his 
claims  and  murderers  of  his  person  ?  Hatred 
of  the  error  we  have,  and  this  is  well ;  but 
full  as  much,  we  fear,  hatred  of  the  errorist, 
which  too  often  forbids,  we  do  not  say  cha- 
rity, but  even  justice.  These  things  ought 
not  to  be  so ;  but  since  they  are  so,  it  becomes 
those  to  whom  it  is  for  a  lamentation,  to  look 
for  a  remedy.  We  think  the  author  of  New 
Themes  has  suggested  the  true  one,  by  sim- 
ply calling  the  attention  of  the  Christian 
world  back  to  the  neglected  truism,  if  you 
will,  that  our  religion  is,  in  its  origin,  in  its 
essence,  in  its  precepts,  its  spirit  and  its  ef- 
fects, a  religion  of  love.  The  deepest  and 
most  precious  truths  are  ever  the  oldest ;  and 
though  he  calls  his  book  New  Themes,  it  has 


31 


been  truly  said  that  they  are  as  old  as  Chris- 
tianity. Indeed,  in  some  respects  they  are 
as  old  as  creation ;  for,  as  the  law  of  God  is 
eternal,  and  its  obligations  unchangeable,  the 
germ  of  the  duties  insisted  on  has  had  place 
under  every  dispensation ;  and  if,  in  the  me- 
ridian blaze  of  the  gospel  day,  they  are  quiet- 
ly ignored,  after  all  the  ineffable  sanctions 
that  have  been  added  to  them  by  the  work 
and  authority  of  the  Son  of  God,  not  the 
heathen  merely,  but  the  earth  herself  will 
cry  out  against  us.  But  though  these  themes 
be  old,  as  relating  to  duties  that  belong  to 
man  as  man,  they  are  new — too  new,  we  fear, 
from  the  long-continued  and  wide-spread  ne- 
glect of  them.  In  fact,  our  author  is  but  re- 
calling the  attention  of  the  Church  to  the 
remarkable  fact — which,  somehow,  she  has 
most  remarkably  forgotten — that  our  blessed 
Lord,  who  came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  when 
about  to  leave  his  disciples,  said  to  them,  "  A 
new  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that  ye 
love  one  another;  as  I  have  loved  you,  that 


32 


ye  also  love  one  another;"  and  as  if  this 
were  not  sanction  enough,  he  adds,  "  By  this 
shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples, 
if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."  This  divine 
injunction  is  re-echoed,  as  it  were,  by  that 
beloved  apostle  who,  after  he  had  leaned  on 
the  Masters  breast,  had,  with  the  others, 
heard  this  gracious  word.  His  language  is 
peculiar,  and  shows,  as  we  have  said,  the 
precept  is  at  once  old  and  new.  "  Brethren, 
I  write  no  new  commandment  unto  you,  but 
the  old  commandment  which  ye  had  from 
the  beginning.  The  old  commandment  is 
the  word  which  ye  have  heard  from  the  be- 
ginning. Again,  a  new  commandment  I 
write  unto  you,  because  the  darkness  is  past 
and  the  true  light  now  shineth."  The  con- 
text shows  that  the  commandment  referred 
to  is  love  to  the  brethren. 

The  author  of  New  Themes  has  endea- 
voured to  show  the  justice  of  his  charge  by 
a  variety  of  instances,  some  of  which  we 
hope  to  examine  hereafter.     Our  object  in 


33 


this  letter  has  been  to  show  there  was  ground 
for  the  charge  generally,  and  especially  that 
the  great  law  of  love — that  which  the  apos- 
tle James  calls  the  royal  law — has  been  in 
many  ways  degraded  from  its  place,  and 
forced  to  take  a  very  subordinate  position. 
We  will,  however,  before  closing  this,  notice 
one  way  referred  to  by  our  author,  in  which 
this  has  been  done,  which  we  must  treat  of 
more  thoroughly  hereafter,  but  which  we 
can  only  now  touch  upon,  to  add  our  testi- 
mony to  the  justice  of  the  charge,  at  least 
in  part.  We  refer  to  the  charge  that  syste- 
matic theology  has  had  the  effect,  from  the 
disproportionate  attention  paid  to  it,  of  set- 
ting aside  the  practical  obligation  of  this  law. 
"  Layman"  is  profoundly  shocked  by  the 
manner  in  which  our  author  speaks  on  this 
subject.  His  strictures  on  this  point  may  be 
found  on  pages  36  and  37  of  his  Review. 
We  will  examine  the  inferences  of  Layman, 
and  then  state  our  own  impression  of  the 
matter.     The  amount  of  his  inference  from 


34 


our  author's  words  is,  that  he  speaks  of  the 
doctrmes  of  the  Gospel  with  such  gross  irre- 
verence as  to  warrant  one  who  did  not,  from 
other  sources,  know  the  contrary,  in  setting 
him  down  as  an  infidel.  We  have  a  simple 
answer  to  this  charge :  the  author  regards 
the  Christian  theology  of  the  Scriptures  as 
not  entirely  identical  with  that  set  forth  in 
formularies  and  the  general  teaching  of  the 
Church;  not  that  he  denies  those  formula- 
ries, but  that  he  regards  the  whole  impres- 
sion made  by  them,  and  by  the  same  doctrines 
as  taught  in  Scripture,  to  be  different.  We  do 
not  entirely  agree  with  the  author  as  to  the 
full  validity  of  his  view  on  this  topic ;  but 
we  insist  that  he  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of 
this  obvious  distinction.  We  wish,  especially 
for  the  sake  of  the  success  of  his  cause,  that 
he  had  used  a  somewhat  different  tone  on 
this  head,  that  he  might  not  seem  to  dispa- 
rage what  we  are  persuaded  he  deems  most 
precious ;  but  in  the  face  of  the  above  dis- 
tinction, without  any  allowance  for  the  undue 


35 


earnestness  almost  inseparable  from  a  favour- 
ite idea,  or  any  regard  to  the  admission  of  the 
author's  preface,  that  "  some  of  his  expres- 
sions require  qualification,"  to  charge  him 
with  irreverence  and  infidelity,  argues  either 
great  dulness  or  great  want  of  candour. 
Now,  while  we  think  this  defence  good 
against  the  strictures  of  Layman  —  who 
should  have  sharjDened  his  wits  or  stirred  up 
his  charity  before  writing  these  pages,  as 
well  as  many  more  of  his  review — we  must 
say,  that  we  do  not  think  our  author  is 
wholly  free  from  censure  as  regards  the 
manner  in  which  he  has  set  forth  the  topic 
in  question.  We  believe  that  when  he  wrote 
the  pages  under  review,  the  idea  of  an  ap- 
proach to  a  depreciation  of  any  doctrine 
deemed  sacred  by  true  Christians  was  remote 
from  his  thoughts.  In  this  case,  as  in  some 
others,  we  think  he  has  fallen  into  an  error, 
like  that  of  the  reformers,  whose  unsparing 
zeal  against  error  sometimes  led  them  to  dis- 
parage what  their  successors,  in  calmer  times, 


36 


have  found  to  be  of  value.  As  we  have  be- 
fore remarked,  the  method  he  has  pursued 
has  its  advantages :  it  excites  attention ;  it 
stimulates  inquiry ;  but  still  we  must  ever 
remember  that  it  has  its  limit,  and  that  a 
very  narrow  one,  since  Truth  will  admit  no 
pleading  in  her  favour  that  does  not  bear  the 
stamp  of  her  own  unvarying  impartiality. 
Having  stated  this  exception  to  the  author's 
tone,  while  we  regard  the  suggestions  based 
on  it  by  Layman  as  eminently  unjust  and 
unworthy,  we  have  two  things  to  say  in  re- 
ference to  the  principle  itself,  for  which  the 
author  contends.  The  first  is,  that  his  view 
of  the  office  of  systematic  theology  does  not 
answer  to  w^hat  we  think  can  be  shown  to  be 
its  true  function  from  the  Scriptures.  This, 
however,  is  a  theme  too  extensive  to  be 
treated  now ;  let  us  be  understood,  while  we 
have  a  decided  conviction  on  this  point ;  we 
are  far  from  denying,  nay,  we  rejoice,  that 
the  author  has  so  clearly  shown  how  an  erro- 
neous estimate  of  the    all-sufficiency   of   a 


37 


theology  of  formulas  merely  has  done  vast 
disservice  both  to  the  Church  and  the  world. 
Our  second  remark  is,  that  one  palpable  evil 
which  he  justly  attributes  to  this  source,  is 
the  bitter  root  of  sectarianism.  Truly,  if 
anything  can  wound  charity — if  anything 
can  conflict  with  "  the  love  of  the  gospel" — 
it  is  this.  It  is  not  our  intention  to  enlarge 
upon  this ;  we  conceive  that  the  author  has 
ably  stated  the  truth  on  this  point  on  pages 
92  and  93. 

Hoping  to  engage  in  a  fuller  discussion  of 
these  points  again,  in  our  next  we  will  offer 
some  remarks  on  the  spirit  of  the  charges 
made  by  A  Layman  and  others  against  our 
author,  of  aiding  the  cause  of  infidelity. 

Yours,  &c. 


38 


LETTER   III. 

The  charge  of  A  Layman  against  the 
author  of  New  Themes,  of  having  written  in 
an  infidel  spirit,  has  led  us  into  a  train  of  re- 
flection which  we  hope  may  be  more  useful 
than  any  detailed  answer  to  such  a  charge. 

There  is  a  species  of  oppression  which  he 
who  endures  all  else,  never  will  endure.  It 
is  that  sense  of  wrong  which  he  who  feels  it 
at  all,  feels  most  acutely. 

You  may  invade  a  man's  opinions  one  by 
one,  and  dispossess  him  of  them  all,  until  you 
interfere  with  his  religious  sentiments,  and 
his  rights  of  conscience.  You  then  strike  a 
spring  whose  elasticity  increases  with  its 
pressure — rallying  every  other  power  in  the 
system,  and  quickening  the  motion  of  them 
all.  You  provoke  his  love  of  truth,  his  re- 
gard of  early  impressions,  his  sense  of  duty, 
his  hopes  of  happiness,  his  pride,  his  zeal, 


39 


his  obstinacy,  his  chagrin,  and  his  resent- 
ment. 

He  who  would  willingly  encounter  these 
knows  nothing  of  the  lessons  of  history.  It 
appears  to  be  the  decree  of  God  that  religious 
persecution  shall  avail  its  authors  only 
shame  and  remorse — while  it  endows  its  vic- 
tims with  extraordinary  courage,  insures 
them  the  divine  protection,  and  fits  Lhem  for 
heroic  suffering  and  achievement. 

There  are  two  species  of  emancipation  to 
be  accomplished  in  perfecting  the  freedom  of 
man,  the  one  of  the  conscience,  the  other  of 
the  person,  and  history  shows  that  they  have 
ever  gone  hand  in  hand,  in  the  progress  of 
reform.  Emancipation  of  conscience  pro- 
duced the  Protestant  Church,  but  liberty  of 
conscience  includes  that  of  thought  and  opi- 
nion, the  free  exercise  and  expression  of 
which  is  inconsistent  with  personal  bondage ; 
and  therefore  the  new-born  church,  like  the 
dove  of  the  ark,  never  found  rest  for  the  sole 
of  her  foot,  till  her  principles  had  produced 


40 


the  civil  liberty  of  the  American  Eepublic. 
The  doctrine  of  the  rights  of  conscience  pro- 
claimed by  Roger  Williams,  in  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts,  became  the  animating  spirit 
of  that  free  constitution,  one  of  whose  fra- 
mers  re-echoed  it  in  the  sentiment,  that  even 
"error  of  opinion  maybe  tolerated  when  rea- 
son is  left  free  to  combat  it." 

This  was  the  sentiment  of  a  mind  too 
deeply  tinctured  indeed  with  the  infidel  phi- 
losophy of  Europe,  but  it  involves  a  great 
principle,  in  the  prevalence  of  which  truth 
has  nothing  to  fear ;  it  is  not  the  use,  but 
the  abuse  of  reason  that  has  injured  Chris- 
tianity ;  not  right  but  perverted  reason.  To 
deny  this,  is  to  confess  it  indefensible,  and 
to  surrender  the  cause. 

As  freedom  of  opinion  is  the  spirit  of  liber- 
ty in  the  world,  so  it  is  the  spirit  of  charity 
in  the  Church.  A  man  who  holds  the  vital 
doctrines  of  grace,  believing  them  in  his 
heart,  confessing  them  with  his  lips,  advoca- 
ting them  with  his  pen,  and  evincing  them  in 


41 

his  life,  may  reprehend  the  practical  short- 
comings of  the  Church,  without  justly  incur- 
ring the  charge  of  infidelity,  or  that  of  inten- 
tionally giving  aid  and  comfort  to  her  ene- 
mies. 

Holding  these,  he  may  differ  from  her 
brethren,  as  to  their  non-essential  modifica- 
tions, and  yet  not  merit  the  harsh  and  bigot- 
ted  denunciation  of  infidel ;  else,  how  shall 
the  many  denunciations  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tendom be  accommodated  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ?  Shall  one  set  itself  up  as  the 
church,  sine  qua  non^  excommunicate  all  the 
rest,  and  deliver  them  over  to  uncovenanted 
mercy  ?  This  might  have  succeeded  in  hush- 
ing the  voice  of  free  thought  and  opinion,  in 
the  papal-bound  despotism  of  the  dark  ages, 
but  71010  it  is  too  late.  The  spirit  of  the 
present  age,  both  in  church  and  state,  is  at 
war  with  it.  The  world  has  abjured  that 
hoary  wrong ;  it  "  has  put  off  the  old  man 
with  his  deeds."  That  is,  the  sanctified  pur- 
pose is  born,  and  the  conflict  of  the  princi- 


42 


pies  of  the  new  world  with  the  lingering 
principles  of  the  old,  like  the  struggle  of 
grace  with  corruption  in  the  renewed  soul,  is 
pressing  on  to  conquest. 

Our  author  is  no  decrier  of  the  inspiration 
of  the  Scriptures,  but  one  who  receives  them 
as  of  supreme  authority,  in  matters  of  faith 
and  practice :  a  member  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  seeing  evils  in  the  world  which  he 
thinks  it  her  mission  to  correct,  he  ventures 
to  admonish  her  of  what  he  considers  to  be 
her  duty.  Being  her  friend,  he  is  the  more 
bold  and  free  in  his  strictures.  If  he  had 
been  less  severe,  his  book  might  have  been 
tame  and  unreadable,  and  thus  have  failed  of 
its  object ;  in  aiming  to  avoid  this,  he  may 
have  gone  upon  the  opposite  extreme  of  un- 
due severity ;  he  recognises  the  purity  of  her 
system  of  doctrine,  but  reprehends  her  derelic- 
tion in  practice.  Right  doctrine  often  exists 
with  defective  practice,  seldom  the  reverse. 
The  Church  is  yet  militant,  not  only  outward- 
ly but  inwardly  5  neither  objectively  nor  sub- 


43 


jectively,  does  she  yet  assume  to  be  perfect, 
but  pressing  after  that  high  state :  surely 
then  she  will  not  anathematize  one  who  by 
reminding  her  of  a  failure  would  aid  her  pur- 
suit. 

But  alas !  for  the  poor  Churchy  often  injured 
in  the  house  of  her  friends,  a  member,  ima- 
gining that  she  has  been  assailed,  waxes  very 
zealous  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  volunteers  as 
her  cham^Dion,  and  issues  "A  Review ;"  a  mem- 
ber, we  say,  presuming  that  such  is  his  posi- 
tion, from  the  fact  of  his  gratuitous  champion- 
ship of  the  Christian  cause,  not  from  any  mani- 
festation of  the  Christian  spirit  in  the  Review, 
which  'is  harshly  exasperated,  and  bitterly 
and  coarsely  personal.  It  breathes  on  every 
page  a  splenetic  and  spiteful  spirit,  as  of  one 
of  whom  some  wedded  and  untenable  preju- 
dice had  been  attacked.  Its  whole  tone  is 
haughty  and  dogmatical.  It  treats  its  subject 
as  if  evidence  and  argument  were  no  helps  to 
the  judgment  of  its  assumed  infallibility;  as  if 
he  whom  it  anathematized  as  an  infidel  surely 


44 


must  be  so ;  no  Papal ^a^  could  make  it  more 
certain. 

It  would  be  more  difficulty  from  the  inter- 
nal evidence  of  their  respective  books,  to 
prove  the  author  of  New  Themes  an  infidel, 
than  his  reviewer  a  Pharisee,  a  religionist 
who  would  officially  drop  a  tract  at  the  door, 
where  he  would  scorn  to  stop  and  minister  a 
persuasive  word.  It  requires  but  a  superficial 
reader  to  detect  his  religious  stand-point,  and 
find  confirmation  of  what  has  been  before 
suggested.  Every  chapter  betrays  it,  and  the 
fact  explains  all  the  phenomena  of  his  book, 
the  chief  of  which  is  its  arrogant  denuncia- 
tion. 

Thus  inspired,  the  Ee viewer  begins.  Assum- 
ing the  author  of  New  Themes  to  be  an  infi- 
del, he  tortures,  garbles,  exaggerates,  and  mis- 
represents his  book,  to  prop  up  his  foregone 
conclusion.  Lest  he  should  not  find  sufficient 
material,  he  first  seizes  the  title,  which,  be- 
cause it  addresses  the  Protestant  clergy,  he 
considers  evidence,  prima  facie,  that  the  au- 


45 


thor  is  a  renegade  from  Protestantism  to 
Kome.  As  well  might  he  infer,  from  an  au- 
thor who  should  write  on  the  liberty  of  con- 
stitutional states,  with  special  reference  to  the 
United  States,  did  he  take  for  a  title,  "  The 
Principles  of  American  Liberty,"  that  such  a 
one  implied  by  it,  a  disbelief  in  the  existence 
of  free  principles  in  any  other  constitution 
than  our  own. 

But  we  must  not  visit  this  Layman's  logi- 
cal delinquencies  too  closely. 


46 


LETTER   IV. 

The  task  of  the  reviewer  of  New  Themes 
has  been  that  of  treasuring  passing  remarks, 
— of  catching  the  sparks  emitted  by  others — 
of  seizing  the  dart  hurled  by  other  hands. 
He  has  shown  a  degree  of  patience  and  skill, 
which  gives  fair  promise  of  his  future  critical 
career. 

He  has,  besides,  entered  into  his  work  with 
such  hearty  good  will,  and  used  his  second- 
hand weapons  with  such  evident  design  to 
hurt,  that  he  clearly  evinces  a  disposition  to 
be  unsparing,  if  not  destructive.  Such  blows 
as  he  deals,  if  they  fall  not  upon  the  object  in- 
tended, must,  at  least,  wrench  the  arm  which 
inflicts  them.  It  is  very  possible  that  his  use 
of  weapons,  forged  by  stouter  hands,  may,  in 
the  result,  prove  injurious  to  a  champion,  so 
much  more  willing  than  strong. 

It  were  a  pity  to  disturb  the  excessive 
complacency  with  which  this  worthy  Lay- 


47 


man  now  fills  the  chair  of  reviewer.  It 
might  be  disastrous,  just  now,  to  extinguish 
this  light  of  the  Church.  The  Church  is  safe 
— with  such  a  champion  in  front  any  num- 
ber of  the  timid  can  crouch  beneath  the  broad 
covert,  and  be  safe  from  heresy,  infidelity, 
and  socialism. 

The  office  of  critic,  assumed,  in  this  in- 
stance, with  such  innocent  confidence,  is 
open,  in  our  free  country,  to  all  comers,  and 
denote  chiefly,  in  the  first  place,  the  good  opi- 
nion which  the  critic  has  of  himself,  and 
secondarily,  reminds  one  very  forcibly  of  the 
fable  of  Pha3drus,  de  vitiis  Hominum : — 

'^  Peras  imposuit  Jupiter  nobis  duas  : 
Propriis  repletam  vitiis  post  tergum  dedit, 
Alienis  ante  pectus  suspendit  gravem. 
Hac  re  videre  nostra  mala  non  possumus  j 
Alii  simul  deliuquunt,  censores  sumus." 

"  Jupiter  gave  to  every  man  a  sack, 
To  hold  his  faults  and  carry  on  his  back ; 
Another,  Jupiter  gave,  which  from  his  breast 
Hung  heavy  with  his  neighbour's  faults  oppressed  : 
On  this  account,  man  never  can  behold 
His  own,  but  can  his  neighbour's  faults  unfold." 


48 


But  terms  should  not  mislead.  The  idea 
of  a  critic  or  reviewer,  may  suggest  to  per- 
sons, not  in  the  habit  of  careful  discrimina- 
tion, such  names  as  Dr.  Johnson,  Dr.  Parr, 
Jeffrey,  and  Brougham ;  they  were  critics,  but 
such  men  have  no  exclusive  title  to  the  name 
or  the  office. 

The  Barings  are  merchants ;  so  are  the  re- 
tailers at  the  corners  of  a  country  village.  A 
hundred  pound  ball  comes  crushing  from  a 
Paixhan,  and  a  pennyweight  plug  of  paper 
comes  from  a  pop-gun.  Yet  both  are  guns; 
the  calibre  and  strength  only  differ.  So  in  the 
domain  of  criticism,  from  the  great  critics 
above-named  down,  down  a  long  literary  de- 
clivity, through  grade  below  grade,  to  the  re- 
viewer of  New  Themes.  But  this  reviewer  is 
not  to  be  estimated  bv  this  lonof  interval  be- 
tween  him  and  the  learned  men  whose  names 
are  given ;  he  is  really  respectable :  this  can  be 
explained.  The  schoolmaster  and  the  school- 
mistress are  both  abroad.  Reading,  writing, 
composition,  and  grammar,  are  widely  taught, 
and  even  the  dullest  intellects  are  daily  drilled 


49 


into  fair  attainments  in  these  accomplish- 
ments. 

In  the  days  of  Bacon,  and  long  after,  many 
a  learned  man  and  profound  thinker,  was  far 
from  being  a  proficient  in  spelling,  or  style, 
punctuation,  or  grammar. 

The  progress  of  education  has  wiped  away 
that  reproach  to  literature;  everybody  can 
write  now,  and  nearly  everybody  does  write. 
Authors  of  this  day  not  unfrequently  even  dis- 
dain the  printer's  aid  in  punctuation  and 
spelling.  We  have  now  myriads  of  books, 
for  the  most  part  well  written ;  they  do  credit 
to  the  schoolmaster  and  the  schoolmistress. 
These  have  done  their  part,  they  have  done 
what  they  could ;  but  they  could  not  make 
thinkers,  and  thinking  has  not  kept  pace  with 
writing.  The  difficulty  has  now  become  more 
formidable  to  tell  whether  the  author  one  is 
reading  is  dealing  in  thoughts,  or  in  words 
merely ;  whether  he  thinks  for  himself,  or  re- 
lates the  thoughts  of  others,  or  whether  there 
is  any  thought  involved. 


50 


It  is  not  an  unfrequent  remark,  in  this 
happy  country,  that  the  housemaid  dresses 
as  well  as  her  mistress,  and  strangers  can  no 
longer  be  sure,  in  the  streets,  whether  they 
are  admiring  the  mistress  or  the  maid.  So 
literary  distinctions  have  been  levelled.  It 
is  only  for  the  throng  of  the  educated  now  to 
determine  in  what  department  they  intend 
to  shine. 

Criticism  is  that  which  suits  the  humblest 
intellect,  as  it  requires  the  least  literary 
capital,  whilst  there  is  an  air  of  importance 
about  it  which  falls  in  very  well  with  the 
inclination  of  those  who  have  no  other  way 
of  distinguishing  themselves  so  easily.  Criti- 
cism is  consistent  with  the  smallest  attain- 
ments, because  its  province  is  mainly  finding 
fault — an  office  in  which  almost  every  one 
is,  if  not  a  proficient,  at  least  in  very  large 
practice. 

Besides,  the  critic  can  scarcely  select  an 
author  whose  faults  are  not  already  pointed 
out,  and  in  circulation.  It  is  but  the  work 
of  a  scribe  to  select  these  stray  criticisms 


51 


and  work  them  up  into  chapters,  and  adorn 
them  with  the  graces  of  style,  adding 
merely  the  standard  phrases  of  censure 
which  occur  in  all  works  of  criticism,  and 
which  a  ready  writer  can  apply  with  slight 
change  to  any  author  or  any  subject. 

A  critic  may  venture  before  the  public  on 
this  plan  with  success  if  he  will  stick  to  his 
trade,  which  is  censure — straightforward, 
positive,  unqualified,  from  which  if  he  de- 
part, in  any  attempt  at  discussion  or  ex- 
planation, it  is  all  over  with  him;  igno- 
rance and  shallowness  and  all  other  in- 
sufficiency stand  forth  unmistakeably  recog- 
nised. Thus  it  has  happened  to  the  Re- 
viewer of  New  Themes. 

His  reproaches  and  his  censure,  gathered 
from  all  the  channels  in  which  they  cir- 
culate, are  propounded  in  the  approved  and 
oft-repeated  phrases  of  current  criticism. 
Of  the  truth  of  such  of  these  as  are  well 
founded,  the  writer  of  New  Themes  is  pro- 
bably more  entirely  aware  than  those  with 
whom  they  may  have  originated. 


62 


LETTER  Y. 

It  is  very  curious  to  notice  how  very  dis- 
tant this  Reviewer  stands,  from  any  just 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  volume 
before  him.  This  is  so  conspicuous  that  he 
may  be  placed  at  the  head  of  that  uncom- 
prehending class  who  never  understand  any- 
thing that  is  not  plainly  set  down  in  some 
one  of  the  Guide  Books  by  which  they 
make  their  way  through  life. 

Yery  many  minds  of  high  culture,  of 
great  intelligence,  and  steadily  pious  frame, 
have  promptly  understood  the  general  scope 
of  this  volume,  and  have,  with  various  ex- 
ceptions given  their  hearty  approval. 

They  have  failed  to  discover,  what  this 
compiler  of  the  Review  saw  so  quickly — 
whether  with  his  own  eyes  or  another's,  is 
impossible  to  tell — that  the  book  is  a  cru- 
sade against  the  Christian  religion,  by  an 


53 


arrant  unbeliever,  but  have  regarded,  and 
do  regard  it,  as  a  simple  protest  against 
Christian  Pharisaism;  against  the  dispo- 
sition so  generally  cherished,  which  induces 
men  professing  to  be  governed  by  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  to  say  to  the  poor,  "Go,  be  ye 
warmed,  be  ye  filled,"  while  it  lifts  not  a 
finger  for  their  relief.  They  find  in  it  a 
protest  against  fanaticism  and  the  barren 
inoperative  theology  of  the  schools,  but  not 
even  one  "wound  of  a  friend,"  inflicted 
upon  the  body  of  Christ. 

And  these  approvers  of  the  general  aim 
and  spirit  of  the  work  are  not  confined  to 
any  denomination  of  Christians,  but  have 
been  found  among  all. 

The  Keviewer,  with  the  papal  shout  of 
"  Heresy,"  and  the  insidious  whisper  of  "  So- 
cialism," has  pronounced  utter  condemna- 
tion, guiltless,  let  it  be  confessed,  of  knowing 
what  he  condemns.  He  charges  the  author 
with  being  illogical,  and  reasoning  in  a  cir- 
cle; but  that  should  not  bear  very  hard  upon 


54 

the  literary  sensibility  of  one  who  neither 
reasons  directly,  nor  inversely,  nor  in  a 
circle;  who  never  begs  a  question,  not 
knowing  when  a  question  is  to  be  begged, 
nor  scarcely  when  a  question  is  involved. 

If  the  host  of  English,  Scotch,  and  con- 
tinental writers,  who  have  been  engaged  in 
these  important  questions  touching  the  inte- 
rest of  the  poor  could  have  been  present  to 
receive  the  Reviewer's  solution  of  some  of 
their  graver  difficulties,  it  would  have  been 
worth  while  to  observe  the  look  of  blank 
astonishment  which  would  have  shrouded 
their  faces,  and  perhaps  hear  Dr.  Chalmers 
exclaim,  "  Hoot  mon !  Hoot  mon !  ye  ken  na 
mair  whatye're  speaking  about  than  ye  ken 
of  the  fish  in  the  Dead  Sea." 

This  work  of  A  Layman  will  not  be  with- 
out its  service.  Literary  coxcombs  will  be 
warned  not  to  crow  until  they  are  out  of 
danger;  not  to  rush  into  any  print  but  the 
print  of  their  own  retreating  footsteps;  and 


55 


not  to  give  advice  until  they  are  old  enough 
to  take  care  of  themselves. 

Self-appointed  critics  may  learn  to  tarry 
on  the  stool  of  caution  until  they  are  ready 
to  expiate  folly  and  rashness  on  the  rack  of 
torture;  and  fledgling  Reviewers,  that  they 
must  not  mistake  their  critical  propensities 
for  the  promptings  of  knowledge,  much  less 
of  common  sense;  and  that  they  should  not 
exalt  themselves  above  all  compassion  for 
literary  aspirants. 

Men  may  find  in  this  review  lamentable 
evidence  that  ignorance  is  not  always  inno- 
cence, and  that  very  pugnacious  intentions 
to  injure  may  be  combined  with  very  small 
ability  to  hurt.  They  may  discover  that  it 
is  better  for  persons  having  very  youthful 
qualifications  to  keep  near  the  maternal  eye 
and  leave  the  Reviewer's  task  to  those  who 
have  character  and  endowment. 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  a  highly  re- 
spectable individual,  like  the  "Layman," 
should  not  better  conceal  the  authorship  of 


56 


the  Eeview,  on  account  of  his  future  pros- 
pectSj  and  that  he  had  not  given  his  hours  of 
composition  to  the  more  profitable  employ- 
ment of  storing  his  mind  with  the  commo- 
dity of  knowledge,  which  should  bear  a  high 
price,  as  we  may  justly  infer  from  its  rarity 
in  that  region.  Such  acquisitions  might 
make  his  future  criticisms  as  richly  profitable 
as  they  are  now  empty  and  prompt,  and 
make  him  as  slow  to  condemn  what  he  can- 
not comprehend,  as  he  is  now  ready  to  exhibit 
ignorance  of  which  he  is  not  aware. 

If  such  needful  additions  should  ever  be 
made  to  his  mental  furniture,  the  wiser  man 
will  not  lightly  imitate  the  thoughtless  youth 
in  crying  Heretic  and  Infidel,  for  he  will  then 
know  that  thousands  of  the  best  men  the 
world  has  ever  known  perished  at  the  stake, 
under  the  Satanic  rage  of  those  who  made 
no  other  charge  than  that  of  heresy.  If  men 
do  not  perish  now  under  this  charge  of  infi- 
delity, it  is  not  for  the  want  of  the  spirit  of 
persecution,  nor  of  deadly  malice  in  perse- 


57 


cutors,  but  because  they  are  disarmed,  and, 
having  no  other  weapon  more  formidable, 
they  vent  their  rage  in  words,  but,  happily, 
they  are  not 

"Words  that  burn.'' 

If  they  were,  woe  to  the  man  who  should 
dare  to  think  of  reading  the  Bible  for  him- 
self. 

Very  truly. 


58 


LETTER  YL 

The  unfairness  of  the  reviewer  provokes 
me  into  a  spirit  which  I  must  desist  from. 
He  does  not  prove  one  defect,  nor  even  refer 
to  our  author's  theory  of  doctrine,  upon 
which  alone  the  charge  of  infidelity  could  be 
justly  based.  He  only  attacks  his  theory  of 
Christian  practice,  which,  as  it  takes  its  own 
private  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  as  its 
basis,  and  does  not  reject  their  authority 
cannot  constitute  a  man  an  infidel,  however 
defective  in  the  judgment  of  others.  He 
assumes  that  because  our  author  maintains 
that  Protestant  Christianity  has  failed  of  its 
duty  as  to  charity,  that  he  would  have  it 
abolished,  which  is  false.  He  proposes  no 
such  thing,  nor  any  substitute,  but  that  it  be 
reinfused  with  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  He  uses  "  failure"  in  the  sense  of 
short-coming  and  defect  in  the  exercise  of 
inherent  energy — not  of  incompetence  and 


69 


absolute  inadequacy  to  the  object  of  its  mis- 
sion, as  the  reviewer  assumes.  It  is  infidelity 
to  assail  the  gospel  of  divine  revelation — not 
to  expose  the  imperfections  and  derelictions 
of  those  to  whom  its  grace  is  committed. 
Even  Paul  owned  that  he  was  but  an  earthen 
vessel.  How  much  more  may  we,  and  even 
his  self-styled  successors ! 

You  will  find  much  in  confirmation  of  our 
author's  book  in  Mayhew's  London  Labour 
and  London  Poor.  He  asserts  from  observa- 
tion that  many  of  the  lower  classes  of  oppo- 
site sexes  live  together  without  marriage, 
because  unable  to  pay  the  marriage  fee  which 
the  clergy  demand. 

The  reviewer  misrepresents  our  author's 
theory  of  charity,  as  contemplating  only  the 
indiscriminate  and  inconsiderate  distribution 
of  alms  to  the  poor;  whereas,  it  looks  to 
their  intellectual  and  moral  elevation,  in  af- 
fording to  them  the  means  of  education  and 
of  grace,  which  the  rich  have  invested  with 
so  much  expense  and  refinement,  as  to  be  in- 


60 


accessible.  There  is  no  objection  to  these  in 
the  case  of  those  who  have  the  means  to 
command  and  the  taste  to  appreciate  them ; 
but  it  is  absurd  to  expect  the  poor,  with  their 
low  means  and  tastes,  to  be  transported  into 
the  midst  of  them,  and  feel  at  home.  The 
author  of  New  Themes  would  have  us  give 
the  poor  labourer  higher  wages,  and  bring 
the  gospel  down  to  his  door  and  capacity, 
and  raise  him  thence. 

We  understand  that  the  Review  of  New 
Themes  is  soon  to  be  followed  by  another 
labour  of  the  same  kind,  though  we  trust  not 
as  premature,  for  the  sake  of  the  perpetuity 
of  the  paternal  name.  One  cannot  keep  from 
recalling  the  olden  legend  of  the  Titanic 
race — "  haters  of  light,  lovers  of  darkness" — 
who  attempted  to  shut  out  the  rising  morn- 
ing from  their  vision,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
world,  and  therefore  piled  Pelion  on  Ossa, 
and  Olympus  on  Pelion;  but,  despite  all 
their  efforts,  the  bright  sun  came  peering 
o'er  their  loftiest  heights,  ma'gnificently  fair, 


61 


and  down  the  mountain's  slant  poured  the 
intolerable  day.  Meanwhile,  we  are  told, 
the  laboriously  piled  hills  came  toppling 
down,  and  beneath  the  ruin  hid  the  giant's 
grave. 

We  are  told  that  the  author  of  New 
Themes,  though  he  discovers  an  error  in  the 
system  of  charity  in  use  at  present,  does  not 
offer  any  substitute. 

When  Galileo  discovered  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter — when  Newton  studied  the  lunar 
motions — were  they  asked  by  the  mariners 
to  pilot  them  across  the  deep  ? 

When  Oersted  discovered  the  principles  of 
electro-magnetism,  was  he  asked*  to  play  the 
clerk  of  the  telegraph  office  ? 

When  the  chemist,  through  high  research, 
had  discovered  the  analysis  of  coal,  was  he 
asked  to  apply  one  of  its  gaseous  elements 
to  the  lamps  of  our  houses  or  streets  ? 

No ;  it  is  unfair  to  demand  the  philosopher 
to  assume  the  post  of  the  utilitarian. 

His  is  the  higher  aim  to  unfold  the  powers 


62 


of  divine  skill — to  develope  the  laws  of  di- 
vine government.  He  leaves  to  others  the 
application  of  the  remedies  involved  in  these 
principles. 

We  thus  compare  the  position  of  the  moral 
philosopher  to  that  of  the  physical  one ;  not 
because  we  are  ignorant  of  important  differ- 
ences in  the  kind  of  discovery  made  by  each, 
but  because,  for  the  purpose  of  the  argument, 
there  is  a  real  analogy.  Notwithstanding  it 
must  be  admitted  whatever  may  be  revealed 
by  the  moralist  is  indeed  not  so  much  new 
truth  as  old  truth  newly  applied,  yet,  prac- 
tically, the  latter  is  often  as  important  as  the 
former. 

While,  therefore,  our  author  proposes  no 
remedy  for  the  sad  evils  of  our  social  state 
beyond  a  better  observance  of  the  second 
great  command  of  the  law,  we  hold  that  it 
may  still  have  all  the  value  of  a  new  princi- 
ple, if  men,  by  his  elucidation  of  its  true 
character  and  exhortations  to  keep  it,  can  be 
brought  in  some  better  measure  than  here- 


63 


tofore  to  acknowledge  how  shamefully  blind 
they  have  been  to  this  obligation,  which, 
though  scorned  as  trite  by  selfishness  and 
formalism,  has  an  ever-increasing  beauty  and 
scope  to  those  who  regard  it  as  a  transcript 
of  that  divine  love  which  shines  alike  on  the 
evil  and  the  good. 

I  am,  dear  sirs,  yours,  very  truly. 


64 


LETTER  VII. 

On  first  reading  the  Review  of  New 
Themes,  by  A  Layman,  I  was  greatly  at  loss 
to  account  for  the  attempted  severity  of  the 
reviewer.  I  am  now  told  that  he  is  a  lay- 
man of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  problem 
in  my  own  mind  is  solved — '' et  Jiiiic  illce 
lachrymce  /"  You  know  my  respect  for  the 
Church,  and  will  not  suspect  me  of  insensi- 
bility to  anything  calculated  to  impair  her 
Christian  influence  ;  and  yet  I  must  confess 
I  discover  in  New  Themes  nothing  to  awaken 
my  apprehensions  and  alarm  me,  as  does  this 
modest  {stat  nominis  umhral)  author.  For 
his  sake,  I  regret  the  haste  with  which  he 
has  written,  and  his  evident  determination 
to  turn  to  ridicule  and  to  consign  to  contempt 
the  views  he  undertakes  to  censure.  That 
cannot  be  done,  sirs.    Beside,  how  much  pre- 


65 


ferable,  more  creditable,  and  profitable,  had 
been  a  calm,  grave,  kind,  and  courteous  in- 
vestigation and  interchange  of  thought. 

Doubtless,  New  Themes  is  susceptible  of 
improvement — of  modification  of  statements 
in  some  cases — of  statement  of  opinion  I 
mean — but  surely  there  is  no  ground  to  infer 
from  it  that  the  author  is  an  unbeliever,  and 
labouring  insidiously  to  undermine  our  com- 
mon Christianity. 

As  I  understand  the  author  of  the  book 
which  has  brought  down  upon  his  head  such 
a  torrent  of  denunciation,  he  finds  cause  of 
complaint,  not  in  the  principles  and  precepts 
of  Christianity,  but  in  the  practice  of  Chris- 
tians. And  if  there  be  not  such,  let  it  be 
shown — let  not  the  reviewer  content  himself 
with  assertions  merely,  but  let  him  give  us 
proof  The  onus  is  with  him,  and  we  cannot 
release  him  except  he  meet  more  fairly  and 
evince  more  clearly  the  fallacies  of  the  author 
of  New  Themes. 

That  Mr.  C.'s  theory  of  charity  is  alto- 


66 


gether  misap23rehended  by  our  worthy  re- 
viewer, is  beyond  a  doubt.  He  assumes  that 
it  is  by  an  unreflecting  and  indiscriminate 
outpouring  of  alms  that  the  poor  are  to  be 
relieved.  How  could  he  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  that  the  language  and  statements  of  Mr. 
C.  imply  no  such  thing?  How  could  he 
forget — especially  when  reading  the  book 
with  the  eye  of  a  critic,  and  with  the  inten- 
tion of  reviewing  it — that  the  questions  of 
spiritual  and  intellectual  improvement — of 
regard  rather  for  the  individual  than  for  the 
mass — of  increase  of  wages  to  the  poor — "  et 
id  mane  genus'' — enter  into  his  calculation, 
and  help  to  form  his  theory  ? 

That  the  New  Themes  are  widely  circu- 
lated, I  have  ample  means  of  knowing;  that, 
since  the  appearance  of  the  Review,  they  are 
more  than  ever  extensively  read,  I  also  know; 
that  they  will  continue,  despite  the  Review, 
to  be  read  by  wise  and  good  men,  at  least 
until  some  abler  "  Richmond  takes  the  field," 


67 


I  do  not  doubt.  That  they  may  produce  the 
eflect  designed  by  the  worthy  Christian  au- 
thor, is  the  fervent  prayer  of 

Episcopus.* 

*  Not  Episcopalian — but  vide  1  Timothy  3:1. 


THE     END. 


Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  01148  8063 


^V,-t.,,{.   .^r   ^-^*;.,.^-^,J.,.^,yg!J|*;v'J    ..^  .    ..^  ft  ..  v«^,v..»...jSW(S)|l|j^  ,, 


•^'  !5 


